A few images of Dubrovnik

"Yes, this is Europe. The Europe that did not respond to the Serb shelling of Dubrovnik. Or the three-year siege of Sarajevo. The Europe that let Bosnia die.A new definition of Europe: the place where tragedies don't take place. Wars, genocides — that happened here once, but no longer. It's something that happens in Africa. (Or places in Europe that are not "really" Europe. That is, the Balkans). Again, perhaps I exaggerate. But having spent a good part of three years, from 1993 to 1996, in Sarajevo, it does not seem to me like an exaggeration at all." — Susan Sontag, Why are we in Kosovo, 1999.

Dubrovnik at night

Right: Still protecting the city for plague after all those centuries... or just standing watch over the next round of cat-food ?

Left: Statue of knight Orlando on the main place of old town.

Right: Shadow on the centuries-old pavement of old town, smoothed-up to mirror-like quality by too many passing feet.

Left: Restaurant tables awaiting their patrons.

Right: The ring of the old custom's house.

Left: Having a drink with the mayor in the old custom's house.

Right: Trying the balancing game on the stone sticking out of the old cathedral. Is that an angel taking off ?

On the Mediterranean

Right: HDR panorama of a cave where we stopped during a kayak trip.

Above: Secondary harbor of Dubrovnik, now mainly used by sea kayaks.

Above: 360° panorama of the secondary harbor of the old town, visible on the right.

Right: Cave by the sea, with large cruise ship hovering nearby. Several of those floating suburbs come every day, vomit tens of thousands of tourists onto the city during the day and leave in the evening for another destination.

Left: Kayaks crossing the main harbor entrance.

Left: Minor islands visible in the moonlight.

Right: Day cruise on a reconstitution of an old merchant ship of the past sea-empire of Dubrovnik.

Left: Details of the rope works of the cruise ship.

Right: Fisheye view of the 'old' cruise ship.

Left: Cheap plastic boats on an island.

Right: Sunflower with bumblebee.

Left: Sea before the hotel.

Right: 'Old' merchant ship passing below the walls of Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik from Above

Above: Evening panorama of the old town of Dubrovnik with Minceta tower standing clear in the middle.

Above: Night panorama of Dubrovnik, with old town in the middle, part of the croatian coast on the left and the rest of the city peninsula on the right.

Left: Old town seen at night, with the harbor visible on left.

Left: Lokrum island at night, with ships anchored nearby. Many legends surround the history of this tiny island, particularly since Benedictine monks were evicted off it long ago. I didn't know those guys were allowed to cast spells. It's a reputed meeting place for lovers (who can swim).

Above: Old town of Dubrovnik seen during the day, seen from the hill of Srd (yeah, croats must have forgotten to grab the vowels when they were passed an alphabet).

Right: Old town of Dubrovnik.

Right: Summit of the Srd hill, with a tall transmission tower, remnants of a military fort and a great view on Dubrovnik and the mediterranean sea.

Left: During the serbian war, the serbs shelled the city from the top of the hill. The city has been quickly and extensively repaired and few traces remain of this sad episode in town. But up on the hill the impacts of shells and bullets are still visible all around. Who knows how many mies still lay around waiting for the wrong tourist foot. On a light note the top of the hill is also a meeting point for lovers. But then again so is everywhere or so.

Right: Dubrovnik seen through the ruins of the destroyed upper lift station.

Above: Panorama of Dubrovnik from the upper lift station.

Left: Mediterranean islands of the croatian coast in the sunset.

Right: Transmission antenna dominating the skyline of Dubrovnik.

Left: Mediterranean islands of the croatian coast in the sunset.

The old harbor

Right: Dubrovnik harbor at night.

Left: Fortress guarding the entrance of Dubrovnik harbor.

Right: Alpenglow above the roofs of old town.

Above: Evening panorama of Dubrovnik harbor.

Left: Part of the harbor.

Right: Part of the harbor, with willing subjects posing for the long 3 minutes exposure.

Old Town

Left: The Onofrio fountain at the entrance of old town.

Right: Part of the walls surrounding the old city. Some of the walls are reputed to be 12 meters thick. Is that enough protection against the serbs ?

Left: Stairway in the fortress.

Right: View on old town through a wall opening.

Left: Rooftops in old town.

Right: The walkway atop the fortress walls.

Left: An opening through the city walls gives relief to the heat and access to the sea.

Right: Diver taking a huge dive off the fortress and into the sea.

Right: St Blaise, protector of the city, watching over the sea and the past fortunes of the empire...

Left: Tiles and rooftops downtown.

Right: Small beach front below the city walls.

Right: More old tiles.

Left: Details of the harbor.

Right: Kid playing on one of the canons protecting the city.

Left: Classic style for the windows, except for the missing top.

Right: Vertical HDR panorama of a street of old town. The main difficulty is to wait for all the tourist to leave. Well, one is okay I guess.

Left: Bellman atop the church tower.

Right: Panorama of the harbor.

Left: Churches and other buildings all packed against one another in the tiny space enclosed by the walls of the city. They manage to have the city built out of more stone than even ancient Rome.

Right: Various small ships in various states of (dis)repair in the harbor.

Left: Details of the fortress walls.

Right: A view of the harbor from higher up on the city walls.

Left: Belltower in the city center.

Right: Old town of Dubrovnik.

Left: Rooftop details.

Right: Rooftops.

Left: Rooftops.

Above: Panorama enclosing most of old town seen from the highest part of the fortress.

Right: All of Dubrovnik.

Left: The fortress seen through itself...

Right: Inside of the Minceta tower.

Left: Old town seen from inside Minceta tower.

Right: Family wandering down the stirs of old town.

Left: Tiles and more tiles.

Right: Vertical panorama (and HDR) of the main street of Dubrovnik.

Left: Vertical panorama of the main street of Dubrovnik and the Onofrio fountain.

Right: Croatian flag flying atop the fortress.

Left: Isolated lemon tree left alone during an archaeological excavation in the old town.

Left: Sunset above the fortress.

Right: Kids playing on the fortress walls, once the tourists are gone.

A few years later, I would come back to croatia to climb in Paklenica and Hvar and also visit a couple more old towns strikingly similar to Dubrovnik.